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A second person has died in Denmark from swine MRSA, the latest report from the Danish State Serum Institute (SSI) has revealed.

According to SSI's third quarter report, a patient was hospitalised with a hardening of the arteries and underwent several procedures before dying within 30 days of being infected with MRSA CC398, a variant that can be transmitted from livestock to humans.

“There were three new incidences [of MRSA] in the third quarter, one of which ended in death. Throughout all of 2014 there have been six cases of toxaemia in total, two of which ended in death with 30 days,” SSI spokesman Robert Skov told DR.

The virus strain has seen a massive increase in Denmark over the past seven years. According to SSI, the CC398 variant only accounted for two percent of all MRSA cases in 2007 but this year is up to 35 percent.

SSI said that both of the people who have died from MRSA CC398 were infected by other humans.

In light of the growing number of Danes infected with MRSA and its prevalence in pork products, the National Audit Office of Denmark (Rigsrevision) is planning to take a closer look at how the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries has handled the situation.

Rigsrevision will carry out a preliminary examination of the ministry’s efforts to reduce the spread of the bacteria. If the first examination warrants it, a further and more in-depth investigation will follow.